Improvedenf in wagon-brake locks



SIDNEY s. HURLBUT, or .RAorNE, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN WAGON-BRAKE LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 126,964, dated May 21,1872 To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SmNnY S. HURLBUT, formerly of Cordova, inthe countyof Rock Island and State of Illinois, but now residing at Racine, countyof Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and ImprovedDevice for Operating Wagon-Brakes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing mak ing part of thisspecification, in which-- Figure 1 is a side view of the improveddevice. Fig. 2 is a top view. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the pawl, showingthe spring-box in section and the pin on the releasing-lever pressingagainst the spring therein.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention relates to a new and improved device which is designed tofacilitate the manipulation of wagon-brakes, and wherein two vibratinglevers have combined with them a spring-pawl and a segment-rack in suchman- 11 er that by compressing the levers in one hand the pawl will bereleased from its rack, and when the levers are relieved the pawl willengage itself with the rack, as will be hereinai ter explained.

The following description of my invention willenable others skilled inthe art to understand it.

In the accompanying drawing, A represents a segment-rack, havingratchet-teeth on its lower edge. This rack is secured rigidly andsubstantially to the side-board B of a wagonbody, and set off slightlytherefrom, so as to allow between it and the sideboard theactuating-levers D E and their spring-box and plate. The two levers D Ehave their fulcrums on the same pin, i, the axis of which is concentricto the segment A. The lever Dis straight, but the lever E is curved nearits fulcrum, so as to bring it in the same plane and one side of thelever D, as shown in Fig. 1. The handles of the levers, which I have notshown in the drawing, are made and arranged so that they can both beconveniently grasped by the hand and brought very close together. To theouter sides of the two levers D and E I pivot, at a b, a pawl, g, sothat when the levers are at a proper distance apart for being grasped byone hand the point 0 of this pawl will engage with the rack-teeth. Inthis position the pawl g and its levers are held bya spring, t, which isinclosed in a box, h, on a plate, f, arranged between the levers and theboard B. The plate f is connected to the levers D E by the same pivots ab which connect the pawl g to these levers, and on the lever E is astud, s, which plays in a slot formed in the box h, so as to receiveagainst the spring t, as shown in Fig. 3.

It is evident from the above description that, when the free ends of thelevers D E are compressed, the pivot 12 working in an oblong slot, 7',in lever D, the pawl y will be freed from the ratchet-teeth and thusallow the brakes to be applied to the wheels with all the force thedriver is capable of exerting. WVhen the driver releases his hand fromthe brake-levers the.

spring t will forcibly separate the levers and throw the pawl into gearwith the teeth in the lower edge of the rack A, thus locking the brakeand retaining the force applied thereto.

Having described my invention, wh at I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Two levers, D E, pivoted at the samepoint, i, and having pivoted to them, at a b, a pawl, g, substantiallyas described.

2. The pawl g, pivoted to the two levers D E, and combined with aspring, t, which is applied inside of a spring-box, h, on a plate f,having the same centers of motion as the pawl g, substantially asdescribed.

SIDNEY S. HURLBUT.

Witnesses A. FILER,

A. G. KNIGHT.

